Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase was an agreement in which the United States acquired a significant area of land from Mexico, amounting to approximately 45,535 square miles, for the sum of fifteen million dollars, later reduced to ten million. This territory, located south of the Gila River, now constitutes parts of present-day Arizona and New Mexico. Negotiated by James Gadsden, a railroad promoter and diplomat, the treaty was signed on December 30, 1853, and ratified on June 29, 1854. The purchase aimed to resolve boundary issues that arose from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which concluded the Mexican-American War in 1848.
The motivations behind the Gadsden Purchase were largely driven by American interests in facilitating a transcontinental railroad across the Southwest. However, it is important to note that the deal did not involve consultations with the Indigenous peoples living in the area, such as the Tohono O'odhams and Chiricahua Apaches, who continued to disregard the newly drawn boundaries. The Gadsden Purchase remains a significant moment in U.S. expansionist history and is often discussed in the context of territorial acquisitions and their impacts on Indigenous communities.
Gadsden Purchase
Date: December 30, 1853; ratified June 29, 1854
Place: Southern Arizona, New Mexico
Tribes affected: Chiricahua Apache, Tohono O’odham
Significance: The Gadsden Purchase resolved boundary disputes between the United States and Mexico resulting from the Mexican War but ignored consultation with affected Indians
James Gadsden was a South Carolina railroad promoter turned diplomat. On behalf of President James Buchanan, he negotiated America’s purchase of 45,535 square miles of territory from Mexico for the payment of fifteen million dollars (reduced later to ten million). A block of land nearly the size of New York State, the Gadsden Purchase lies south of the Gila River, forming part of present-day Arizona and New Mexico. The treaty embodying the purchase was signed on December 30, 1853, and ratified on June 29, 1854, settling boundary questions between the United States and Mexico left unresolved by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican War in 1848.
The purchase was prompted by American politicians eager to build a transcontinental railroad through the Southwest. Neither the Mexican nor American governments consulted with the Tohono O’odhams (Papagos) and Chiricahua Apaches who lived in the area, and these Indians subsequently ignored boundaries that were not theirs.